Though I Lay Down in the Darkness
by Tiniowien
Summary: TEMPORARY CHAPTER 4! This is a more detailed account of the 3 days in Moria written by myself and my friend. This is our first attempt at fanfic so we welcome all reviews, tips and any suggestions you may have :)
1. The Walls of Moria

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Though I Lay Down in the Darkness

A/N: Ok we don't own or have anything to do with the following: JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings Trilogy (in book and film form), any of the character or actors (although we really wish we did!)

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Chapter 1  
  
Gimli froze in mid-stride, gazing around him with a wonder rarely seen upon the face of a dwarf. 

"This my friends, is a sight matched by no other on Middle Earth! My forefathers have lived and mined in these halls for countless generations. The pride of my people is carved into this mountainside." 

Legolas eyed Moria scathingly. 

"It's a rock" he said flatly, "with a big hole in it" 

"That, Master Elf, is the greatest Kingdom of the dwarves!" 

"As I said, a rock" he crouched suddenly, cat like, to peer at the carved stone doors. "And they've locked it." 

"Control yourselves, both of you" Gandalf's deep voice echoed off the damp walls "This bickering is more suited to children!" 

Legolas turned on him, his blue eyes seeming to glow in the creeping mists. He glared fiercely for a moment, then dropped his gaze to the ground. Aragorn, sensing the tension in the air, strode to stand beside the huddled group, placing a callused hand on Legolas' shoulder. He glared challengingly up at the tall gates, then looked at Gandalf with anxiety etched deeply into his face. 

"This is a problem we did not anticipate." His gaze turned hopeful, "You are positive you do not know the password?" 

"Believe me, if I did, I would have said it by now." Gandalf's rigid shoulders sagged, "I am sorry" he sighed deeply. 

Aragorn threw a large rock at the uncaring gates, "Open damn you!" he screamed in frustration. 

"Give it a kick" Pippin suggested and at the others incredulous stares added, "works for my doors when they're jammed." 

Gandalf smiled wearily at the eager hobbit. "If none of the spells in my knowledge will open this door, then I am afraid nothing will". 

"It's a kind of riddle. What's the elvish word for friend?" Merry asked suddenly. 

"Mellon" answered Legolas absent-mindedly, before starting back in shock as, without warning, the doors swung violently inwards. The Hobbits applauded Merry as Gandalf attempted to hide the annoyance creeping up on him. That darned hobbit had solved it before him.  
  
The company clustered around the opening, peering into the dark interior. 

"Just a hole, eh?" said Gimli proudly. "And now we can enter the mines!" 

"Do the joys never cease?" Legolas muttered under his breath, knuckles white as he gripped his bow, following the Fellowship into Moria. No one noticed the dark ripples spreading across the oily water.  
  
"What is this?" Gandalf whispered, light from his staff gleaming off yellow skulls and the dull axes that had once been the pride of the dwarfish nation. 

"You're right" Legolas conceded, "It's not just a hole, it's a hole full of dead people." Boromir gazed in fascinated horror at the ancient carnage littered around him, "This isn't a mine, it's a tomb" 

"How observant," Legolas replied dryly. The hobbits huddled together in a frightened group. "We should not remain here, we should never have come." Boromir was already backing out of the doors, stumbling over the brittle bones that cracked beneath his feet. 

Gandalf rounded on him, "We had no other choice! Would you rather we had all perished on the frozen slopes of Caradhras?"

Boromir laughed bitterly "No other choice?" he said, "Then you had better find one quickly for this one is no longer open to us." 

"We must go on, unless you can suggest a better road" Gandalf retorted. 

"I suggest we pass through the Gap of Rohan. It will bring us direct to Gondor where we can shelter in safety until we can decide on our next move." 

"Are you mad? You would risk the Ring that close to Isengard?" Aragorn exclaimed angrily, hand gripping the hilt of his sword threateningly. Boromir said nothing but his mouth tightened in an angry line. 

"I do not wish to be here. It reeks of old death and corruption, yet even I can see that this is the only way." Legolas added softly, as he gazed longingly across the distant water. He froze suddenly, body dropping to a crouch. 

"Get back!" he ordered. 

Frodo, moving to obey, felt his blood thicken as something curled around his leg gripping with iron force. Letting out a sudden cry, his body was jerked backwards his hands scrambling at the floor in a futile attempt to stop himself being dragged back into the murky waters. They stared, their feet rooted to the ground. 

"Well? What are you waiting for? Shoot it! SHOOT IT!" Gimli yelled exasperated. Legolas snapped into action, releasing an arrow into the creature's feted hide. It shrieked but did not loosen its grasp on the panicked hobbit's foot. 

"Excuse me? A little help? I can't kill a three tonne monster with pointy sticks!" 

Aragorn and Boromir ran forward, quarrels forgotten, towards the thrashing beast narrowly avoiding the flailing tentacles that could tear them apart. Boromir hacked at the powerful tentacle that held Frodo. The creature squealed, dropping Frodo towards the waiting waters. Aragorn leaned forward grabbing the hobbit by his coat collar before he even broke the surface. 

"Get back in here! Quickly!" shouted Gandalf as the monster lunged after their retreating backs only to be repelled by a vicious arrow that seemingly grew out of its eye.  
  
The creature heaved itself on to the banks, it's mind a tangled knot of rage. It was the watcher, nothing escaped the watcher and it was determined that this time was to be no exception. As the Fellowship reached the relative safety of the mines, it reached forward, thick tentacles entwining round the graven doors pulling them down with a magnificent display of strength.  
  
The Fellowship gathered together in the choking darkness, which pressed down upon them like an oppressive blanket. They were entombed, trapped inside the belly of the mountain with little hope of escape. 

"Damn…" 


	2. Mithril and a bottomless pit!

A/N: Thanks to everyone who sent us reviews! Well, your wish has come true, here's the next chapter! (and it took ages to write!)

Seeing as we're having a minor (ok, major!) dose of writers block, perhaps will now be a good time to send special thanks to our reviewers:

  
Cysne: Glad you like Legolas' sarcasm! Sorry about the evil ending, we've got to put suspense somewhere! We really wanted to put across Gimli's awe and proudness in this chapter so that's why we had him leading the group. We can't stick completely to the books, otherwise we'd be breaking several hundred copyright laws!

  
Stephanie-Lou: Yes we are evil (evil grin on face) but all will be revealed in a few chapters. The reason why Legolas screams will be a kind of sub-plot. Oh, and the reason why I review all your chapters is that you write some cool stuff! 

Daisy Brambleburr: In the first chapter we had Legolas opening the doors because the writing was in elvish and we couldn't understand why Legolas, being an elf, wasn't given the privilege! 

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Chapter 2

A dim light filled the passage emanating from the tip of Gandalf's staff, illuminating his face which looked haggard and weary in the dirty light. His body slumped in defeat.

"We must now face the long dark of Moria"

"Oh great!"

"Unless you have something constructive to say…" Gandalf's eyebrows bristled in anger. Boromir, unable to restrain his impatience gestured towards the tunnel ahead with a brisk wave of his hand.

"When you are ready" he said with exaggerated courtesy.

Gandalf cleared his throat, embarrassed. "Yes, quite." Straightening his robes and adjusting his hat more firmly on his head, he prepared to stride ahead of the company but paused as Gimli held a gnarled hand.

"I know this mines better, Gandalf" the dwarf said bustling ahead. He regarded the Fellowship with a proud glance

"Come! I shall lead the way!" he intoned grandly.

"We're saved!"

"And you, Master Elf, I shall lead down a hole!" Gimli muttered into his beard, walking forward into the dark.

Gimli lead the companions through a complex network of tunnels. Contrary to the expectations of the company, they were built broad and tall, tall enough Legolas couldn't help but note that all but an elf could have walked without fear of braining themselves on an unseen overhang. He idly wondered if it were deliberate. Here and there seams of some bright metal glinted. Gimli ran his hand fondly across one of them.

"Mithril" he murmured, "The rarest and most beautiful of all metals."

He sighed, for a moment losing his proud stance. "It is for this that my cousin decided to brave the foul horrors that were awoken-"

"By the dwarves"

"-that were awoken in it's depths." 

"So, the dwarves came to Moria, knowing it was full of giant monsters and thought 'gosh, never mind, as long as it has sparkly things'"

Gimli spluttered in annoyance. "Indeed! One might even liken it to the elves persisting in living in Mirkwood despite the giant spiders, and all because it has trees!"

Aragorn gazed at the two in despair, as if being trapped deep underground wasn't enough. "Perhaps, all things considered, you should lead after all Gandalf."

Gandalf looked smug, straightened his robes, and strode to take up his rightful position at the front unhindered by Gimli who was to busy thinking over the possible fate of his cousin to notice his position being usurped. The wizard lifted his staff to indicate that the company had to move on. The group of nine followed him through twisting passages and endlesscorridors of stone. 

"Look!" Pippin pointed up at the stone walls. "The mithril seems to be following a path." 

As the hobbits stared at the precious metal closer, it seemed to brighten, shimmer stronger. They were all in so much awe over this beautiful glistening that not one of them noticed the bottomless pit ahead. Gimli was entranced, the mithril was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. The elves could sing about the stars all they liked, stars were cold and distant, they could never match the brilliant living silver that rippled through these very walls. Fascination slowed his footsteps until he was a short way behind the company. The said company had halted several metres ahead and were staring at the ground (or lack thereof) in consternation.   
"We're going to be stuck here forever aren't we" Pippin said woefully, staring at the wide crack in the ground. Driven by morbid curiosity he kicked a stone down it, and listened hopefully for the sound of the stone hitting the bottom. There was silence.   
"Nonsense, nonsense!" Gandalf exclaimed with false cheer "This...bottomless pit...is a slight hitch admittedly, but nothing we can't overcome with careful planning and above calm thinking." 

There was a pause as they all thought about the options.   
"Well, I can jump it and Boromir could probably jump it and we all know Legolas could..." Aragorn started "it's the hobbits that are the problem."   
"We're sorry" Frodo mumbled apologetically.   
"I'm not blaming you!" Aragorn continued hurriedly "But if we can devise a way to get the hobbits across...say, Legolas, would you be able to jump it while carrying a hobbit?"   
Legolas frowned at the gap, trying to judge the distance.   
"I'm not sure. Maybe."   
"Maybe?" Aragorn pressed.   
"Let me put it this way, I'm about 70% sure I could do it." He glanced sharply at the man. "Would you care to risk it?"   
"heavens no!"   
A gloomy silence fell.   
"About how wide would you say it is exactly?" Boromir asked unhappily   
"I'd guess about 5 and a half feet" Legolas replied.   
"And how deep?"   
"Bottomless"   
"Well this is just great isn't it!" He exclaimed angrily "I have every faith in you Gandalf but I'd like to see you get us out of this one!" The wizard sighed and leaned a little heavily on his staff.   
"I must admit I find myself at a loss."   
  
Gimli walked forward blindly, lost in the ancient splendour of the mines and the beauty of the mithril. He failed to notice the bottomless pit and more importantly, the inconveniently placed rock in front of it until to the horror of everyone present he tripped over it. Flailing wildly, he managed to catch the opposite side of the pit and hung on grimly. Suspended over the gap he opened his eyes a crack. From his vantage point, it looked very, very bottomless. Aragorn rushed over to the dwarf to drag him back over the edge but was stopped by Legolas' raised hand.   
"Wait just a minute." The elf knelt down beside Gimli. "Exactly how good is your grip"   
"My grip is just fine thank you very much! Now if you wouldn't mind..."   
Gandalf looked on in fascination, surely the elf couldn't be thinking...but all stretched out like that there was a distinct, bridge-like quality about the dwarf. And hobbits were very light... Gandalf smiled down benevolently on the dwarf.   
"Well then, that solves THAT problem!"   
  
When all the hobbits had scampered across the 'bridge' and were safe on the other side, Legolas leant down to help the dwarf up. Grasping both his hands the elf heaved until Gimli was safely over the edge. His eyes danced with a unholy glee as he helped the dwarf stand.   
"You know, I always knew there was a use for dwarves, but I never imagined what." 

"I'll have it known, Master Elf, that we dwarves have …" Gimli's words were replaced by a look of shocked excitement upon his rounded face.

"Mr. Gimli? What is it?" Sam asked fearfully. 

The dwarf raised his armoured hand, "Look!" he gasped.

The Fellowship stood, transfixed, at the sight that befell upon them. The veins of mithril, which had lined the tunnel, had climaxed into a spectacular cavern which could be likened to an Aladdin's Cave.   
  
Legolas walked towards the walls, studied them carefully and noticed that they were decorated with elven runes. He touched one of the runes gingerly. "And elvish runes." His dark eyes looked troubled, "What are elven runes doing in a dwarven mine?"

Gandalf, too, looked puzzled "But these are carved by no elvish hand, see how the edges are roughly worked?" 

"What do they say?" asked Frodo, apprehensively. The runes seemed to twist in front of his eyes, menacing and strange. Gandalf peered closely at them, running his hand along them as he read aloud:

Tick-tock, little clock

Silver key in living lock

Lying hands, they always mock,

Rusting springs, open lock

Winding down little clock?

Tick-tock.

There was a silence. 

Then Legolas screamed.


	3. Flashbacks

A/N: Phew!! We've finally written chapter 3!! Sorry it's been such a long time coming (4 months almost isn't it?!) but hopefully now we have more time on our hands to write the next chapters, seeing as it's almost the summer holidays!

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Chapter 3

The hobbits stared at him then at each other. They did not know what was wrong with their companion, but if it broke through the elf's usual poise, then it must be something terrible. As if on cue, they started screaming too.

Gimli stared at the ensuing chaos in exasperation. "What on earth is going on?" he yelled.

Aragorn knelt down beside the trembling elf on the ground. "What is it? What is wrong?" he asked urgently. 

Legolas looked around him, confused. "I do not…I cannot…" he shook his head. "I do not know" he finished lamely.

"You don't know?" Gimli repeated heavily, "You just suddenly decided to scream loudly and give us all (except me) heart failure, on a _whim_?"

"I had my reasons," Legolas replied indignantly. "I just cannot recall what they happened to be" he lied. He stared up at the glistening ceiling and closed his eyes slowly. Pain flashed through his head, high piercing shrieks died into groans as memories came flooding back. 

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The air was red hot, thick with a greasy feel. Soft faces displayed vast amounts of anxiety and agony. They were terrified, ambivalent. What was this torture?

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Legolas opened his eyes again and looked up at Gandalf, confused by this indescribable vision that had plagued his mind.

"Are you quite positive that you don't know?" asked Aragorn sympathetically, placing his gloved hand on Legolas' shoulder.

"I am" replied the elf miserably.

"Perhaps it's best that we move on, it's not wise to linger in a place such as this" urged Boromir.

"Yes, I think you are right" answered Gandalf slowly, staring at the elven runes. He could not understand why they were etched with such anger, such fear. Elves usually take great pleasure in their arts, something was definitely wrong and the wizard was sure Legolas knew what it was. "I think it's best if we try and forget about this and move on, there is still many days travel to the other side. Perhaps things will become a little clearer when we are out in the open again. But for now, let's just think about the job in hand - getting the Ring of Power out of harm's way.

Gimli, however, was unrepentant. "You _must_ know what's wrong" he snarled at Legolas "As I said before, no one screams for no apparent reason and especially an elf!"

"Gimli son of Gloin what did I just say?!" The cave felt smaller and heavier as the anger rose up inside the wizard. "I thought I had made myself quite clear that we were not to talk about Legolas' indeed mysterious pain. Have I made myself clear now?"

Gimli nodded quickly, glancing over at the hobbits who too looked absolutely petrified. They were confused by everything, Legolas screaming, the elven runes, the riddle, Gandalf's demeanour and did not like it at all. It was all very farfetched from the comfort and warmth of the Shire. Gandalf turned on his heel and Gimli scowled at him, caught by Aragorn's dark glare. 

Gandalf's staff guided the company out of the mithril cavern and down through yet another tunnel, twisted with the precious metal. The hobbits shuffled together behind Gandalf, so they could feel the safety of a familiar face. Gimli stomped behind them, his armour jostling in humorous squelches as he plodded along. Aragorn and Legolas followed their dwarf companion, while Boromir brought up the rear. Like Gandalf, he too suspected that Legolas knew of something no one else did. If it was the One Ring the elf craved then he was to be denied. The Ring belonged in Gondor; it would protect the people - the women and children especially - from the evil forces. Boromir stared piercingly at Legolas, jealousy welling up inside like a large fireball. Coincidentally, it was at that precise moment that the elven prince became overrun with another of those confusing nightmare visions. He instantly dropped to his knees, clutching his golden hair, his head in fierce pain.

"Legolas!" yelled Aragorn "You must tell us what's wrong!"

Legolas did not respond. He could not respond for he had not heard the ranger's raspy voice over the screams and tears of his fellow elves…

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Screeches and sniggers cut through the air like light through a vacuum. Arrows flew through the tunnels like bullets, and there was the sickening sound of swords and daggers slicing through flesh, greeted with the muffled cries from loved ones.

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"Legolas can you hear me?" gasped Aragorn, coughing because he had shouted too much, "LEGOLAS!"

Again, the elf did not reply. No one, even himself, could understand the suffering and torment of his people…

A/N: We hope you enjoyed this chapter. As you may have gathered the little bits of text inside the asterisks are flashbacks from the past which we will develop and reveal all in the chapters to come!


	4. A small apology!

Ok we admit it..we have a case of writer's block, SEVERE writer's block! We keep trying to write something, but it's either really bad or we can't think of anything that will allow the story to progress! Luckily all our exams have finished (for now!) so hopefully we'll have more time to rack our brains further!  
  
Sorry, we haven't been sucked into the depths of oblivion, honest!  
  
~Tiniowien~ 


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